Time to fight for every point, Benitez tells Magpies
>> LONDON: Newcastle United can focus on their fight for Premier League survival without any more distractions after the close of the January transfer window, manager Rafa Benitez said.
Newcastle sealed loan deals to bring in midfielder Kenedy from Chelsea, striker Islam Slimani from Leicester City and goalkeeper Martin Dubravka from Sparta Prague last month.
Striker Aleksandar Mitrovic and winger Rolando Aarons were among those who departed on loan and Benitez said the team had to get their priorities in order after a 1-1 draw with Burnley in midweek extended their winless run to three games.
“From now, there are no distractions, and everybody has to be sure they are ready,” Benitez told the club’s website www.nufc.co.uk.
“The first message I gave to the players after the transfer window, after the training session on the morning, was, ‘Listen, this is the group of players that have to fight for every point until the end of the season’.”
Benitez added: “The players, the team, they have to concentrate on that, because some of them were maybe thinking, ‘I could go here, I could go there’. Now, everybody’s here and everybody has to give their best.”
Newcastle, who take on 13thplaced Crystal Palace in the league today, are a place below the London club on 24 points.
Meanwhile, Crystal Palace winger Bakary Sako will miss the rest of the season after fracturing his ankle, manager Roy Hodgson said.
Sako limped off in the first half of Palace’s 1-1 Premier League draw at West Ham United on Tuesday.
Hodgson said the 29-year-old, who has scored six goals in all competitions this season, suffered damage to his ankle ligaments and remains a doubt to be fit for the start of the 2018-19 campaign.
“Baky’s injury is a very serious one. He’s fractured his ankle and damaged ligaments around it,” the former England manager told reporters.
“He certainly won’t play again this season and may be a doubt to be fit for the start of next.”
Hodgson described the type of injuries to hit his squad this season as “unusual” as he has just 19 players to choose from for today’s league fixture against Newcastle United.
“Our injury situation is unusual. A lot of clubs can get a number of muscle injuries, but we’re in a situation where we’ve lost five for the season,” he said. “[Christian] Benteke, [Wilfried] Zaha, and [Mamadou] Sakho all spent at least six weeks out earlier in the season.”
Hodgson added that Norwegian new signing Alexander Sorloth will replace Sako in the squad at Selhurst Park this weekend.